Amazon MGM Studios restructures scripted

Peter Friedlander’s reorganisation of Amazon MGM Studios continues at pace, with a new genre-based structure that is resulting in the exits of Laura Lancaster and Nick Pepper.

Lancaster’s US-based co-production division and the ‘wholly owned’ series unit that had been led by Pepper are both being disbanded with the focus now on genre-based teams.

These US teams will oversee development and current programming across four genres: drama and comedy; worldbuilding; animation; and unscripted.

Blair Fetter, Netflix’s former chief of spectacle series who departed the streamer shortly after Friedlander’s own exit, will join Amazon MGM Studios to lead the worldbuilding unit, which encompasses fantasy and sci-fi series.

Jenn Levy, another former Netflix exec who joined Amazon earlier this month, leads unscripted, while Melissa Wolfe retains her role heading up animation.

All three report into Friedlander, with the search underway to find an exec to head the drama and comedy division.

Head of global IP, Lauren O’Connor, also now reports directly to Friedlander, as does Lindsay Sloane, who leads MGM Television’s scripted series.

Paramount alum Nicole Clemens, who joined Amazon last summer, has oversight of scripted outside of the US in her role as vice-president and head of international originals for Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios.

In a memo to staff, Friedlander said the new genre focus would allow the company to “move faster, make sharper creative decisions and continue to build groundbreaking series that define the future of television.”

Friedlander said Lancaster and Pepper would be “transitioning out” of the company but added that “producing deal conversations are underway” with the duo.

Lancaster had shepherded shows in her five-year tenure such as Fallout, The Summer I Turned Pretty and the Lord of the Rings franchise, while Pepper worked on the upcoming Tomb Raider and Young Sherlock, among others.

Friedlander joined Amazon MGM Studios in September, taking up the role previously held by Vernon Sanders, whose exit had been confirmed earlier in the month. 

It came as part of an overhaul kickstarted by the abrupt exit of Jen Salke at the end of March. Internationals chief James Farrell then departed with Kelly Day promoted to take on his remit, while Prime Video’s US boss Albert Cheng also moved to a new role overseeing AI.